Students at Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna place 4th, 5th in Home Design Contest

By Mary Louise Ruehr | Staff writerPublished: January 29, 2013 4:00AM

Two teams of students in the Computer-Aided Engineering program at Maplewood Career Center in Ravenna placed fourth and fifth in the 16th annual Student Model Home Design Contest, held recently at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center in Brecksville.

As a result, their designs will be showcased, along with those of the other top 10 teams, at the Great Big Home and Garden Show, Feb. 2 to 10, at Cleveland's I-X Center.

Fourth place went to the Maplewood team of Johnathan Smith of Southeast High School and Jessica DiTirro of Field High School, who received a $100 cash award.

The fifth-place team was made up of Maplewood students Stephen Yanis and Kaley Utz, both of Streetsboro High School, and Rachel Naugle of Field High School. Their team also received a $100 cash award.

This was the first time two Maplewood teams placed among the top five in the contest, according to instructor Jeff Bee. "I was very proud of their efforts this year and am happy they were rewarded for all their hard work," he said.

"The project was a great experience. I learned about how to create a detailed model from scratch," said Johnathan.

Jessica agreed. "This project was so much fun," she said. "It opened my eyes to the world of 'green' architecture."

This year's theme was "Great Spaces in Different Places -- A Mixed Use Space to Live and Work." Students were challenged to design a mixed-use commercial/residential structure addition, incorporating the above grade concrete (i.e., Insulated Concrete Form) system into the design, as well as appropriate and creative use of other building elements, such as energy-efficient and environmentally conscious products and systems to reduce energy costs.

The structure would be designed for the purpose of accommodating a young professional couple who plan to add on to a commercial building they just purchased in order to operate their new architecture office on the first floor, and live in the residential space on the second floor.

Using their knowledge of architectural design, "green" building design technology and concrete construction, student entries included floor plan and elevation drawings as well as a high-profile scaled model building.

A panel of building industry professionals from across the area evaluated the student designs.

"I loved working on this project," said Rachel. "It gave me an appreciation of the work architects do everyday."

For some of the students, working on the project was a revelation. "I learned that you need to have the patience of a saint to be an architect," said Kaley.

For information on the Computer-Aided Engineering program at Maplewood Career Center, contact Jeff Bee at 330-296-2892.

photo 1

Fifth-place winners in the recent Student Model Home Design Contest are, from left, Maplewood students Rachel Naugle of Field High School and Stephen Yanis and Kaley Utz, both of Streetsboro High School.

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The team of Maplewood students Johnathan Smith of Southeast High School and Jessica DiTirro of Field High School placed fourth at the recent Student Model Home Design Contest.